Bloodshed: Akatsuki Arc
by Renee Lenore
Summary: Discontinued.
1. Chapter 1

1. The Man Who Waits

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Drip.

_Drip._

_Drip._

_A man, cloaked in black, strode down a narrow hallway, his face set in a grimace as the water drops around him seemed to pound into his mind, breaking whatever thought he was trying to form. _

_Three years. He had been hiding down here for three years, and still nothing has changed. They were still just trying to figure out the plans to attack._

_He felt like he was wasting his time with these morons._

_What should have happened was him staying where he was years ago. He should have never lied to his fiancé about what was going on. Rather, he now felt that telling her the truth might have been the better and safer option. Perhaps she may have understood and maybe even help him. Yes, the thought of working from within the enemy's home seemed like a much better plan than what was currently going on._

_He walked up to the doors that the Leader was most likely sitting behind._

_And if he wasn't there, Deidara was going to shoot someone._

_Walking in, his eyes trained themselves to the wooden desk in the center of the room, a hooded figure sitting behind it._

"_What is it, Deidara?"_

"_If we are going to attack, I believe that now is the proper time, sir," he said, feigning respect and patience._

"_I disagree. Their security is far too high at the moment for us to even begin to think of attacking."_

_Before hearing anything else, Deidara strode out, his patience gone._

_If anything, the security over in France should be lower than it has been in the past five years. With Orochimaru dead, there was no one to order around those useless Sound Vamps, so there really isn't much of a threat that the idiots over in Europe would know about._

_Unless they knew about Akatsuki, which was highly unlikely. He'd managed to keep everyone under the radar for a while now, there shouldn't be any trouble._

_Everything was flowing just as smoothly as Deidara had originally planned. Itachi was out of Akatsuki, Orochimaru was gone; now he just had to verify a few more things._

"_Deidara."_

_Turning, the blonde male saw his partner in crime (what a stupid name they'd been given…) walking out of the shadows. "Sasori; I thought you were over in Berlin for the Oktoberfest?" he asked casually._

_The rolled his eyes while falling into step beside Deidara. "Oh, I was. And then I noticed a little troll was over there; there was no way I was going to let him know of my presence. We don't need any trouble at this point."_

"_Who did you see?"_

"_Kabuto."_

"_That's impossible—he was killed, remember? Killed the same day as his master—"_

"_No, he had sent a doublganger to the battle instead. In actuality, he's currently residing in Western Europe. The sonuvabitch is still alive and well, unfortunately," the man muttered. _

_Western Europe? Deidara pondered over the fact that Germany neighbored France; perhaps Kabuto was out seeking revenge?_

"_Deidara. I would strongly advise you to not show your face over there so soon. I am aware of you detestment towards that man, but if someone were to spot you, you'd be dead—again."_

"_The elders can't do anything to me if I'm not harming anyone."_

"_I wasn't talking about them—you do remember you pretty much left Sakura, right? I'm sure you remember how feisty she can be."_

_Deidara chose not to say anything. He was hoping that the next time he sees his old lover, she may give him a chance to explain himself. _

_Because if he can convince her of his plan, then everything will go his way._

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"Could you guys be any more obvious?" Naruto shouted. Tiashi gave Naruto a look, her one eye twitching slightly. She turned around enough so that she could face him fully, Itachi giving Naruto a glare form over her shoulder.

"Excuse me?"

"If you two feel that deprived of each other, then go satisfy your needs out in the forest—some place where the rest of us can't _hear it_!"

"Naruto, it's going to be a while."

"What do you mean, Sakura?"

"Dobe, we are still on the freaking plane."

"Shut up, Sasuke!"

It was almost a week since the downfall of the Sound Sannin ruler. The news about his death had spread throughout several vampire communities in such a short time, causing mixed feelings among the immortal beings in the world, though most of the were thoroughly relieved. The vampire safe-house that they had been staying in that had been damaged by the fight was currently under construction. Sakura had paid for everything already, feeling completely guilty. During her time with the group, Tiashi had made sure that her sister had taken care of her house. Everyone in the group was exhausted and ready for some relaxing.

Sakura sighed, sliding down further into her seat. She watched as Hinata tried to massage her temples. Everyone tried to block out the arguing, though all attempts failed miserably. The only thing that silenced them was when Tsunade bashed their heads together. She then walked to the front of the aisle, getting everyone's attention.

"First: when we get back to France, Sasuke, you will need to sign a few papers ensuring your loyalty to our community. Also, when we do arrive, you all will be given to rest from all of this before you receive anymore assignments—"

"Wait, we're all on big squad now?"

". . . Shut up, Naruto. And no; none of you are yet qualified to join Itachi and Sakura in that area and you don't have enough knowledge to work under Tiashi in investigations. For you three, there is going to be a small lineup of tasks for when you are all ready for them. And for all of you" even though Orochimaru is dead, there are still a couple hundred of his followers out in the world. So watch out for them."

With that new information in mind, everyone groaned. "We just got done dealing with all of the Sound vamps we could handle," Tiashi mumbled. "Why does there have to be more?"

Sasuke easily blocked out everyone else's conversations as he sank deeper into his thoughts. It was finally over. Orochimaru was dead and gone for good.

_'I can finally relax . . ._'

The entire time he was around the dark Sannin, he head to be on full alert and was always tense. It was a good thing that vampires don't sleep; he wouldn't have gotten any, anyway. Sasuke hoped that now that the man was dead, his curse mark would quit bugging him. The whole time he was at the base, his neck would randomly get this weird tingly feeling and then sometimes it would start to burn. He really didn't want to go through that again.

He began to wonder what life would be like when the group returned to Sakura's mansion. Sasuke had this guy feeling that he would have to immediately start looking for some kind of apartment. Sakura didn't say a word to him in the past few days. She barely acknowledged his presence. Why should he be allowed to continue living at her abode? He joined the enemy forces without telling anyone his reasons as to why. His careless actions had made people feel hurt and completely betrayed. And if Orochimaru had discovered what Sasuke was up to, he would have put the lives of several people in grave danger. He could almost understand why Sakura was avoiding him. Why should he be _allowed_ to live there? Heck, even _he_ wouldn't let himself come back.

"Hey, Sakura! What are we doing when we get back to your place?" Naruto asked. Sakura turned to face everyone, standing on her knees in her seat. "Tiashi, are you going to be staying with us and if so, will you be sharing a room with Itachi?" she asked.

"Yes and hell yeah," she answered simply.

"Well, while they get their room set up, everyone needs to unpack quickly because we are going to get down and dirty with some spring cleaning!" she said with completely fake enthusiasm. Sasuke heard Naruto and Kiba groan out in protest.

"Seriously?" they whined simultaneously. This caused Sakura to scowl.

"Suck it up. I'm not going to house a bunch of pansies!" she said, earning some laughs from everyone. Even Sasuke chuckled a bit. Then, a sweet and 'innocent' smile graced her features. "Oh, and Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked up, dreading for her to say that he couldn't stay with them.

"Since you acted foolishly without telling anyone . . ."

'_Here it comes. I hope I have enough money for an apartment . . .'_

"Not only will you be mopping the _entire_ two floors, but you will also be cleaning out the gutters," she told him before turning and plopping back down in her seat.

While the others laughed about Sasuke's disastrous fate and how Sakura's house would only end up even worse with Sasuke's cleaning skills, Sasuke simply shrugged and smirked to himself. In all honesty, he would clean the entire house himself if it meant that he was still part of this small, select group.

_'I'm still accepted . . .'_

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**YES I KNOW YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR THIS! I was going to update a few months ago. But because of the fact that I was on a WB with this story, I was sort of worried that I'd turn into that person that starts to post and then waits like, a year to update. I hate those poeple.**

**But, I'm trying, so here is the prolouge and first chapter! There will be parts in this story that are referenced back to early in the first one, so if you need to reread Royal Blood, go ahead and do that.**

**REVIEW MY FRIENDS! :D**


	2. Patience, Michael Jackson, Thoughts

_2. Patience, Michael Jackson, Thoughts_

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After the caravan had left the airport, they waited for the two-seated motorcycles to arrive. They were ordered at last minute, so it was going to be another twenty minutes or so until they arrived. Everyone's bags and suitcases had already been taken to be driven over to Sakura's mansion.

During the wait, Tiashi made calls to tell her sister about her staying at the house longer because she would be staying with the group, and that she would pay her for her time. Sakura, Hinata, and Naruto were figuring out a way to explain to Hinata's family that she wouldn't be coming home. It wasn't like she could just tell them she was moving there—they'd want to visit and ask for pictures. It'd be suspicious if she sent pictures and twenty years later she still looked like she did a year after she got out of high school. Faking everyone's death was out of the question before it was even _in_question. Kiba was already giving rules to Suki and answering all of her questions to the best of his ability. He was forced to reiterate everything because they didn't get to finish when they were in the mountains and anything that Orochimaru might have told her would just be completely wrong anyway. Sasuke had the sense that Kiba was becoming infatuated with the older woman. What man had that much patience?

"Well someone seemse a little down. Perhaps there is a reason for your sulking?" Sasuke rolled his eyes at his brother's comment as Itachi came and sat down next to him on a stone bench. It was only since he had been reunited with his brother a little less than a year ago that they had really started to reconnect. Sasuke suspected it was Itachi desperately trying to make up for all of the lost time. Before, back when Sasuke was still in high school, Itachi had always been so distant with him. He was never around; he never wanted to talk, even if Sasuke felt that he needed to talk to his only living relative left. For a long time, Sasuke had deeply and honestly believed that Itachi was into drugs and anything of the sort. Even now, Sasuke wasn't entirely sure what had been going on back then, but he didn't want to know yet. For the time being, he liked how things were between him and his brother.

"I'm not sulking."

"Then what are you doing?"

" . . . "

"My point exactly, little brother. What's on your mind?" he asked softly. Sasuke shrugged, running a hand through his hair.

"Exhausted. Relieved, maybe."

"Care to explain?"

By this time, the brothers had lowered their voices to the point where they were the only ones that could hear each other. An attempt at a private conversation. Such a thing was rare when everyone around you had super-hearing.

"Being under the cautious watch of Orochimaru . . . high school fangirls would have been much more tolerable," he said. Itachi winced.

"That bad?"

"You have no idea. I had to be cautious of _everything_ because he believed that this 'curse mark' thing had seriously changed me—who I was. I had to think about what I said, what I did, and how I reacted to everything," he said in a rush. He didn't know why, but whenever he talked with his older brother, his walls came down, and he opened up. It was strange, but in a way it felt good to talk freely without the having to be guarded.

"_Did _the mark change you at all?" Itachi asked. He personally didn't think so, but he had quickly learned that his little brother had become a master at deceivery. Even he had trouble reading him at times.

"I think the only thing it really did was fuel my already-burning hatred for Orochimaru. I've always been disgusted with people who think that they can imitate Michael Jackson." Itachi laughed, giving Sasuke a quick one-armed hug around the shoulders.

"Good to have you back, kid," he said, still chuckling. Sasuke scowled slightly.

"I ain't no 'kid'," he mumbled.

"Yeah, and you ain't ghetto, either, or as Aunt Magnolia would say—"

"Juh-hetto," they said in unison, remembering the fond childhood memory. There was a short, comfortable silence surrounding the two. Sasuke took everything in at once. The sounds from far away distances, everything he was able to see with his sharpened vision. Like people in the airport down the road talking. Or the several different hues of brown and gold in the hair of the dog across the street. Somehow, everything just seemed more vibrant and alive with his heightened senses that came with being a vampire. He looked at Sakura, taking in more details than he did when they first met or when they were in the park almost a year ago. He realized now that her hair wasn't just pink, but there were individual strands of light read and pale blond in her hair as well. Her skin had an unearthly glow to it that made her seem much more . . . alive than ever. When he listened to her talk, he wouldn't say that her voice sounded like bells (because really, bells could be annoying after a while, and her voice was never annoying). Rather, her voice had a strange smoothness to it when she talked. It was very calming (but only when she was calm). Sasuke wondered if she was human, and he was human, and they had dated in high school and his parents were still alive then, would they approve? That thought alone led him to several other thoughts.

"I wonder . . ."

"Hm?"

"Sometimes . . . I wonder what they would say. Mom and Dad, if they knew about what we have become and what our lives now consist of. Do you think that they would be okay with it?" Sasuke asked softly. He didn't exactly expect and answer, though he received on anyway.

"I honestly don't know. But whatever they would have thought, I have no doubt in my mind that they'd still love and accept us without second thoughts or shame," Itachi replied truthfully. "Well, for you. Don't know what they'd say about me and sex before marriage."

"Now there's something I can't answer," Sasuke said. Itachi gave him a confused look.

"Excuse me?"

"About what they'd think about you sleeping with Tiashi—you just said it."

_'Can you hear me now?'_

"Yes!"

Itachi jumped up, pointing a finger at Sasuke. "Okay, now that just isn't even fair!" The others stopped what they were doing and stared blankly at the brothers. "He just read my thoughts!"

A collective groan was then heard.

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**Yeah, it's a strange place to stop. You would not believe how much I didn't like this chapter when I was reading over it just now. I had to go back and change dialouge because somehow, I'd managed to make Itachi start sounding like some weird version on Ino. I know, I know. I'm not sure either.**

**So, Thanksgiving was nice. Didn't do much. We ate a dead bird . . .**


	3. Feels Like Home

_3. Feels Like Home_

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"Are you kidding me?" Naruto groaned. "First the 4.0 average in high school, then you're part of some older-than-dirt prophecy, and now this? Reading minds! Sasuke, why is it that you get the god stuff?" he complained.

"Great, now _nothing_ is private," Kiba muttered.

"Oh, relax, Kiba," Sakura said. "When it comes to vampire gifts, there's always the choice of not using it when you don't want to," she informed. "We'll all still have out privacy—if Sasuke is enough of a gentleman to allow us that," she said, eyeing Sasuke. Sasuke's eye began to twitch in irritation. He started to wonder if she always had an attitude with him. Or maybe she was like that with a lot of people.

Before he could make a witty reply to her comment, two large pick-up trucks came up and stopped in front of them. Then, being unloaded were four sleek black motorcycles. Instantly, everyone was already getting off into pairs—Naruto and Hinata, Itachi and Tiashi, and Kiba and Suki (Tsunade and Jiryiah had left hours ago). So that left Sasuke and Sakura to be forced to share a motorcycle.

As Sasuke mounted the bike and was about to start the engine, he noticed Sakura not getting on. She stood a few feet away, arms crossed over her chest. There was an air of defiance about her.

"What?"

"There's no way I'm letting _you_ drive," she said. Sasuke almost had to laugh—she didn't trust him on a bike. He smirked at her.

"Sorry, dollface, but you can't everything you want. Now please get on before the others leave without us."

"Sakura! Just get on!" Naruto shouted from the front of the line. He knew how Sasuke was on bikes and such.

"But you don't know how to control these!" she protested, ignoring Naruto.

Itachi laughed to himself. If there was one thing he knew about Sasuke, it was that the two of them had grown up around bikes. Their mother's friend had owned a bike shop, and they had visited frequently enough to know how to ride perfectly.

Sasuke raised a dark eyebrow at the protesting woman. "You wanna bet on that, Sakura?" he challenged.

Sighing in defeat, Sakura reluctantly climbed on the seat behind Sasuke. She put her hands lightly on his waist. But once Sasuke shot off at a high speed, she held her self firmly against his muscular back to keep herself on.

The group drove through the different cities of France. Kiba and Suki put themselves in the front of the line while Sasuke and sakura brought up the rear. Even after having stayed here before, Sasuke was still thoroughly amazed and in sheer awe about everything in France. The architecture, the colors, the life, and the people.

Or _person_.

"So when did you learn how to ride?" Sakura asked, her breath fanning his ear.

"Our mom's friend owned a local bike shop with her husband. She taught Itachi and me how to ride before we were ten."

"Isn't that illegal?"

"We don't exactly abide by the law—we're Americans. After our parents died, she tried taking care of us, but then she died of lung cancer—she smoked. Well, her will left us all of her bikes. So I've pretty much grown up with bikes."

"How old were you when your parents died—how'd they die?" she asked quietly. Sasuke couldn't blame her for being hesitant on the subject—it was human nature to want to avoid the topic of death and pain.

"I was almost eight, and Itachi was thirteen at the time. They died in a really bad car accident. Apparently a drunk driver hit them one night while Itachi and I were at home, and their car burst into flames. They were burned to the bone," he said. He tried to block out the gruesome images of when he had to go with Itachi to identify their bodies at the hospital. The only thing that could tell them that it was their parents was the engraving of their names on the underside of the charred rings that somehow still survived. He still had those rings as a reminder of several things—not to die, and what drinking can do. The one who killed his parents was sentenced to life in prison.

"I'm sorry," Sakura said.

"It's okay—I've had enough time to get over it."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence. During that time, Sasuke took notice of Sakura behind him. He could easily feel every part of Sakura that was touching him. Her thin arms, her chest, stomach, and further down. Even though she was behind him, somehow her vanilla scent still made its way to Sasuke's senses. It was completely and indescribably intoxicating him. Almost to the point of pure madness. Did she even know? Did this strange woman have even the slightest idea as to what her presence was doing to him?

He didn't think so.

It seemed that the city was a lot more lively than the last time Sasuke had been there. Shoppers were everywhere, bustling around each other to get to where they needed to be. It reminded Sasuke greatly of home. Konoha was a large city, with thousands of people. He started to wonder how everyone was doing, what they looked like after a couple years of him being away, or if anything major had changed. Then he started to think about how if he had never gone to the party that night; would he still have been turned? If he had remained human, would he be in college right now, learning to become a psycologist? Would he have actually started dating? Gone to parties?

He had no idea how his life would have turned out if all of this had never happened. He wouldn't have betrayed his friends, or learned of the prophecy or of his new ability. He wouldn't have met Sakura, either. And somehow, that one thought seemed to make him forget about wanting things to go back to the way they were.

"So," he said, turning his head slightly to the side. "I'm cleaning your gutters?" he asked, refering back to the conversation on the plane.

"Yes. All of them."

He smirked. "Well, that'd be fine. If you even had gutters."

He heard and felt Sakura laugh, knowing he was right. It surprised Sakura that he remembered such small details of a place he hadn't seen in so long. While she was still somewhat upset with Sasuke, she was thankful that he was okay, and not actually evil. She found herself placing her cheek against his back between his shoulder blades, watching the buildings and shops go by. She found herself in a moment that almost seemed perfect, and she wanted to keep it that way.

"Sasuke? I'm really glad you're back," she mumbled, knowing he would hear. In response, se felt him grab her hand and giving it a light squeeze before letting go.

"Yeah."

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In a matter of time that seemed far too short, the group arrived to the place where Sakura's private jet was waiting. Once they were on, settled, and were preparing to take off, conversation started up. It was all nice and casual until Naruto opened his mouth.

"Hey, Sakura, why do you live so far from the city? And why is you house so big?" he asked loudly. Other conversations were paused to listen for the answer. The question had never before come up, but it was something that everyone wondered about all the time.

Sakura smirked, prepared to share her own history. "Just so we're clear, I was born—actually born—almost 1119 years ago."

"Wow, Sakura! You're so old!"

". . . Shut up, Naruto. Anyway, back then, the mansion and all of the land around it was private property. Because of that, the government was not allowed to use the land, no matter how much they needed it."

"Couldn't they have just bought it or forced out the people living there? The government had that power," Tiashi said.

"That's true. They could have done that—except for one thing. The family living there was pure royalty. They were the wealthiest people in most of Europe. They refused to give up the land because it had been in the family for several generations."

"Sakura, what was the name of this family?" Hinata asked.

"Haruno."

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**So, I really hate how short this is. But the next one is longer (I think). They'll get progressively longer.**

**REVIEW**


	4. A History Lesson

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**Yeah, you're probably wondering why this is slow to be updated. Well, it's because [insert legit reason]. I hope you all can understand! **

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_4. A History Lesson_

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Almost every jaw dropped in shock.

"Are you kidding me?" Naruto shouted.

"Jeez, calm down already," Kiba muttered.

"Excuse me? She's royal!"

"Yeah, and that's nothing new."

"You already knew?" Sasuke asked.

"For about fifty or so years now. It was kind of obvious, though, if you studied history."

"Kiba, it isn't mentioned in any history book in the world."

"Then how did I find out?"

"Because you went through my stuff!"

" . . . oh, yeah."

"Sakura, is the government still trying to take your land?" Itachi asked.

"They really want it. You see, back when I was still human, my father was rejecting all of the offers. At the same time, my friend—my best friend—was a vampire. Two stories with a powerful connection. You see, my parents and the entire mansion knew that I was always sneaking off. They just didn't know anymore than that. Whenever I snuck out, I always went to see him."

"Him?" Sasuke asked.

"It was Juugo, wasn't it? The big guy from before?" Tiashi asked softly.

"The one we were attacked by? From Orochimaru?" Itachi questioned. Sakura sighed.

"Yes and no," came her answer. When no one else spoke, she continued on. "Before, the vampire that you saw was like the Hollywood version—powerful, monstrous, always killing people . . . But you see, he wasn't always like that. He was entirely different in every possible way. Back then, Juugo was the sweetest man I had ever met. He still is. He was kind, compassionate, and considerate, smart, protective, funny . . ." she listed slowly in a trance of remembrance.

"He was just . . . perfect in every way." Sakura shook her head slightly to get herself back to the story. "Well, during those times, many cultures still believed that demons and monsters still walked the earth—just, no one had ever claimed to be a witness to one. I met Juugo when I was only seven years old. As I grew older, I had come to the conclusion that he wasn't exactly human. I demanded answers out of him one day, and I got them. I promised him that I would never share his secret with anyone. He did believe me. I would later as and beg him to turn me, but he wanted to wait until I was older, which would've been agreed as nineteen.

"As my friendship with him grew, so did the crisis between my family and the French government. As you all know, my property is quite large—especially today. At the time, the country wanted to tear down our land to add on the nearby city that was quickly expanding. My father refused to give it up. He would always say that "this land has been under the Haruno name for over one-hundred years and it will remain that way until God says otherwise". To this day I can swear that he was slightly crazy."

"How'd you family continue to make so much money when they only hunted for the city?" Naruto asked.

"While the men hunted, the women of the family used herbs in the gardens to make medicines that they would see. We had a deep skill for trading deals. Anyway, years went by and then it was the day before I turned nineteen. Everyone but Sasuke already knows that story."

"So what happened?" he asked.

"Long story short, I was attacked by Tsunade because of Orochimaru's twisted plans and was syred," she said. "Unfortunately, when Juugo tried saving me, he was attacked by Orochimaru. That man did something to him, and I lost my best friend that day." Sakura paused for a moment before continuing. "I had nowhere else to go when I woke up. When I told my parents, they were just . . ."

"Did they reject you?" Hinata asked softly.

"Well . . . my mother felt ashamed, and I was my father's plan of keeping our land. He made a deal with the government that once every Haruno was dead and gone, then the land was all theirs."

"He used your immortality to keep his land."

"Yep. I told him that I didn't want anyone to know about what I was—because back in those days, if someone was "demonic", they had to be taken to the priest to be exorcized. The deal said that the owner of the land would send in a letter twice a year proving that there were still people living there."

"Do you still do that?"

"Yes."

As the jet landed by the ancient mansion, Sasuke's mind went over Sakura's life story. He never would have guessed that she came from a royal family. He also couldn't believe that he own _father_ had _used_ her the way that he did. The idea made Sasuke so sick. But as he watched the last-living Haruno now, it seemed as though none of it really mattered. She seemed so happy. And perhaps she was happy with her life and who she was. That fact alone could get any person through another day, Sasuke decided

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**Hope you all enjoyed!**

**R&R**

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	5. Equal but Opposite

With a duffle bag over his shoulder and a suitcase in his hand, Sasuke made his way up the curved staircase to the second floor. It was now that he looked closer at all of the details of the house. He noticed that there were a lot of things about the mansion that had obviously been redone and modernized. Like adding plumbing and drywalls for better insulation, ect. Everything had been repainted, wooden parts replaced.

But through all of the changes, there were all of the little things that Sakura had obviously kept. Like the original framework and layout. The style of the windows was the same, as well. On the walls, you could tell that wallpaper was taken off before the coating of paint. And if one were to look closely enough, they could see the intricate design patters on the stone handrail of the staircase. It was all of the small things that made Sasuke really see the ancient history of the house.

As he walked down the hallway, he wondered if there were places as old as this in other parts of the world that were secretly inhibited by vampires. He would have to ask Sakura about that later.

Sakura, huh?

Sasuke scoffed when he entered his room. He was slightly disappointed with himself. He spent was too much time thinking about her now-a-days! Then again, how could he not? She had some trust in him, and he had stabbed her and the others in the back. Sure, he had good intentions, but still . . . He could have at least told them all about his plan, and he berated himself for not doing so. And they were all so hurt by his betrayal. Especially his brother.

Sasuke knew that Itachi was affected the most by what he had done. He knew because he could sense it in his eyes, face, and tone of voice. And most of it came from one emotion.

Trust.

During high school classes, Sasuke had learned a lot from studying a person's emotions through body language.

In life, everything has an opposite to balance it. Without one, the other can't exist, because there is nothing to compare it against. An example, light and darkness. If something was never dark, how could it be light? The same went for someone's emotions.

Love and hate.

Happiness and sadness.

Trust and betrayal.

After the death of their parents, Itachi had been gone. A lot. He never got to know his younger brother, or how his personality was. Naruto knew. He was used to Sasuke making outrageous decisions in the blink of an eye, so he got over it easily. Itachi had never known his brother enough. So when Sasuke had just suddenly left, Itachi was surprised—shocked, because he had trusted Sasuke. He had never seen it coming. Surprise led to hurt. Hurt led to anger. Anger led to the feeling of betrayal.

All emotions are connected, and one can set off a reaction to others. Sasuke knew right away that this was the case for his older brother, how his decisions had affected him. But it also showed him how much Itachi had actually cared. The whole situation reminded Sasuke of when Itachi had left when Sasuke was still just barely seventeen. It had changed Sasuke, even if he didn't know his brother as well as he would have liked. For a long time, he believed that Itachi had never really cared. His trust was broken, and he had felt betrayed back then. This situation now was almost just like the one from back then.

Sasuke slowly continued in the paused act of unpacking the cloths that weren't discarded when he left the group. He would have to ask someone why they kept his things. Sasuke knew that he would really have to make it up to his older brother for all the pain he had caused. It would be hard, but he would definitely do it.

Glancing out at the darkening sky, Sasuke went to the hidden corner in the room where the ice box was. Of course, by now he had no reason to bathe in the freezing temperatures as often, but it felt so good on his aching muscles that it was practically an addiction. Now he understood why Sakura did it so much.

While Sasuke's mind lazily drifted on and off different topics, one in particular kept creeping back in. His new "gift". Sasuke thought more about this. He already knew that it only occurred when he willed it to. Like an "On & Off" switch. He wanted to know what all it entailed. Could he only hear thoughts, or could he see things as well? Such as mental images. He wanted to test it, except he promised the others that he wouldn't invade their privacy.

But it was all so tempting! Not invading their thoughts, but testing his ideas.

A knocking was heard from outside his door, startling Sasuke out of his thoughts. Why had he not heard the footsteps coming toward his room? Was he that far out of it? He waited a moment and silently breathed through his nose. He could smell the faint scent of vanilla. That alone told him who was at his door. After putting on a pair of boxers Sasuke went and opened his door. He stepped aside to let Sakura into his room.

"I didn't hear you come up," he admitted, only slightly embarrassed. She smiled, waving her hand dismissively.

"Yeah, after a while, the whole 'super-hearing' thing only activates when you're in trouble or you really want it to. Kinda weird, I know," she informed with a slight shrug.

_'I guess I've got more to learn,_' Sasuke thought absently. He watched as Sakura placed her hands on her hips, looked around the room and sighed.

"So, are you settled back in yet?" she asked, being a good hostess.

"Just as easily as last time," was his answer. Sakura nodded, accepting it. It was Sasuke's turn to sigh as he leaned back against his icebox, mentally taking down the wall of polite-awkwardness. And getting Sakura's attention. He didn't intend to bring up this topic so soon, but he figured that sooner the better, so that things could maybe start to go back to normal between them, like how it was before. "Sakura. If you're pissed at me, I get it—I'm not slow."

Sakura looked at him strangely. "Why would I be angry with you, Sasuke?"

"The actions I took? Betraying you guys? You have every right and reason to be angry—to hate me, even," he said bluntly, not being shy on the topic. In all honesty, he just wanted to get this conversation done and over with so they could both move on from the tension. He watched her face change slightly into one on ponder and . . . something else. Something like forgiveness, if that.

"If you're sorry, then I've got nothing against you. Your brother told me why you did it in the first place," she said, just quietly. She walked forward and leaned against the icebox, her arm just barely brushing his. She looked down at the floor, mentally noticing the dust that had settled in Sasuke's absense. "And I understand now why you did it. To protect everyone, taking down the enemy from within . . . it was a smart plane. Risky, but smart." She looked up at him. "And I can't exactly say that I would have done it much different, either. You had good intentions, even if others might not see it that way," she said softly.

"The road to Hell is _paved_ with good intentions," he murmured. Sakura laughed then, shaking her head, a smile on her face. Sasuke watched her still, and realized that while away, he had missed a lot of things. He had missed her friends, his brother, and Sakura.

He had _really_ missed Sakura.

He knew that this was a one-time thing with him, but it was something that he felt he needed to do. He owed it to her, after all.

"I'm sorry for leaving."

* * *

**TWO IN ONE DAY PEOPLE. If you haven't read my rant at the end of my most recent update of MORE TO THE EYE, please take two minutes and read it so that you know what's been going on and why I haven't been around.**

**Anyway, this story is still a bit slow-coming. I need feedback from you all to know what you want to see in this story. PLEASE TELL ME WHATCHA WANT.**

**R&R**


	6. Habits

**So, I have an official plot. With wicked-crazy events and surprises, so don't give up on this story yet! And go read MORE TO THE EYE.**

**ALSO: Blood is back to being red, not silver. Just Sayin. Silver blood is stupid.**

* * *

Sakura smirked. "Yeah, I know you're sorry—you are a bit of a softie, Sasuke," she teased lightly, playfully bumping her shoulder to his.

". . . Excuse me?"

Sakura shook her head at his glare, her smirk turning into a smile. "I'm only kidding. Relax." After rolling his eyes, Sasuke felt the mood lighten up a bit between them. Although both were still slightly uncomfortable. "So, how is it going with your Sharingan?" she asked casually.

"What?"

"Oh, come on! You guys are the only ones in thousands of years to have it!" she exclaimed.

Then it came back to him. Being an Uchiha, Sasuke was supposed to have this eye thingy once he was syred. A family gift when bitten by a powerful vampire. Sakura had shown him a book on it months ago in her room when they first arrived here with Naruto and Hinata.

"_Okay, talk: why does everyone keep giving me weird looks when they find out that I'm an Uchiha?" Sakura came over and sat down on the couch with three books in her hands. _

"_Well, Tsunade was shocked that you we're an Uchiha because no one told her your last name. She thought you were just another random person Orochimaru bit. Kiba did because he has heard rumors about the Uchiha's. I'll get to that in a minute. But right now, we've got a couple of problems on our hands. Okay, so you know that Orochimaru has these followers and that they are planning to attack the dynasty and reveal our secret community to the world. Orochimaru also wants you." There was a slight pause._

"_Is he gay?" Sasuke asked._

"_I don't really know, but that isn't the point! Okay, years ago, even before the Sanins, there lived a man named Madara. I can't really tell you much about his past, but he had caused a lot of trouble and was banished from the vampire community he was currently living in. Well, he was angry and wanted revenge, but never had the chance to get it. Ever since, the community has been very cautious about having another Uchiha become a vampire. And what makes the situation even more troublesome is the fact that you were syred by Orochimaru. They have a bad feeling about accepting you because you might have a … gift."_

"_Gift?" Now Sasuke was confused._

"_Yes, with most vampires, they receive a type of ability when they are syred. Because of the family you come from, you will most likely have the Sharingan. It's like this kind of eye technique," she told him while opening one of the three books. On the page she opened to, there was a picture of a circle with three comma-like forms in the circle. _

"_So is that what the Sharingan looks like?" he asked. She nodded her head 'yes'. "What are those?" he asked, pointing to the shapes inside the circle._

"_They're called tomoes. I still have yet to find out what they are."_

"_So is this what it looks like?" She nodded again._

"_Basically; there are a few different ways it might look."_

He just now came to realize the fact that he'd never acquired the Sharingan. He should have had it by now.

"I would have asked Itachi, but he's a little busy right now if you know what I mean," she said. He knew she was talking about him and Tiashi.

"Itachi has Sharingan?" he asked slowly.

"Oh, yeah. For a few months now, actually."

Sasuke suddenly felt an old, forgotten emotion rise within him.

Envy. And deep anger.

Itachi had Sharingan. Sasuke didn't. _'Looks like old habits die hard,_' Sasuke thought bitterly. That would be just like Itachi to get the Sharingan before Sasuke. Just another chance for him to show him up.

"Sasuke, are you—"

"Get out."

His tone wasn't harsh. His face didn't show anything. His words were empty, but that was why Sakura complied with his demand without question.

Sasuke closed his icebox and put on a pair of black sweat pants and a gray T-shirt. Walking over to the window, Sasuke quietly opened it and jumped out, landing softly on his feet. Sasuke took one last glance up at his open window before heading towards the forest. Once his reached the tree line, he was at a full sprint. As he ran, colors of the night blurred together into a mass of greens and blacks and deep blues and purples. The wind hit his face full force; the smell of the forest was a relief. Sasuke started leaping through the trees. He used the thick branches as leverage to swing off of, only to land either on the ground or reaching for another branch. When he came up to a stream, he leapt over it, somersaulting on the ground at the other side before taking off again.

Sasuke felt a sudden sense of freedom rise from deep within him. This feeling . . . it had been so long since Sasuke experienced this. Being a vampire, the excelled strength and stamina made tasks much easier and everything became much too simple. There had been almost no real physical challenge in life since he was turned. But now, Sasuke felt so much more alive than he had in over a year. The exertion on his body felt so great. And Sasuke realized that he needed this feeling—he was craving it. the burn in his arms when he pushed himself off of a branch. The pull of his abs when he flung his entire body into the air and through the trees. The stretch of his legs and he pushed himself harder and further.

Before long, Sasuke ceased in his sprint and climbed himself up a tall, thick tree. Getting to the top branch, he sat and caught his breath. Look out over everything, Sasuke realized that could no longer see Sakura's mansion.

Complete solitude.

Finally.

Stupid Itachi. He just had to steal all of the glory—the spotlight was constantly on him! Back when they were kids, he always got more attention than Sasuke. Father would always talk about Itachi and his many talents.

Sasuke was never praised in such a way that showed how proud someone might have been for him. Even after their parents died, Sasuke was always in Itachi's shadow. With every teacher he got throughout high school, they almost always talked about Itachi, asked how he was doing. There were times when some teachers would actually compare the two brothers in everything from academics to athletics. A few made the grand mistake of calling Sasuke "Itachi" from time to time. Sasuke then made it his personal mission to piss off those teachers whenever possible. Senior year—when Itachi disappeared—people left Sasuke alone and never mentioned his older brother. Ever since then, Sasuke felt like his own person, not having to follow behind anyone. And then of course, Itachi just had to go and do it again.

Why did _he_ have to acquire this Sharingan thing first?—

Sasuke shook his head, berating himself on his behavior. He was acting like such a child. Sasuke reminded himself that he was a grown man now, so why was he acting like a jealous fool? It probably wasn't even Itachi's fault that things have turned out as they did. It wasn't like he ever asked for any of this to happen to him—Sasuke sure didn't ask to become a vampire. But . . . things happen, whether or not Sasuke wanted them to. A lesson he learned long ago was that it was easiest to just go with it.

That didn't mean he couldn't resent the fact that his own brother always got everything before him, if Sasuke got anything at all.

Leaning his head back, Sasuke closed his eyes and mind, blocking out distractions from the world around him. It was an old trick he picked up on years ago to calm down quickly; it had often come in handy.

Minutes later he opened his eyes again, feeling the cool air of the night ruffle his shirt, the stars scattered across the sky, not hidden by the lights of the city. Leaping down from the tree, Sasuke listened for the sounds of civilians. For the second time that night, he started to run.

* * *

**And so we finally meet angsty Sasuke. :) It was destined to be. It won't last long, though.**

**So yeah, this story is about to get a lot better really soon.**


	7. As If It Were Yesterday

**Disclaimer: ...not even.**

* * *

_7. As If It Were Yesterday_

* * *

A little over an hour later, Sasuke could see lights from the city. While running, he never stopped to tell the others where he was going. He realized now that he probably should have.

Oh well. Too late for that idea.

Sasuke slowed his pace a mile away from where people were. While walking, he fixed his hair and brushed off any dirt on his cloths. He wasn't too concerned with how he was dressed for public—it was late, so most people wouldn't care anyway. And for the ones that did—well, he couldn't say he looked like a slob.

Sasuke's feet led him blindly throughout the city, showing him how it had transformed in a matter of hours. He passed the night club that the group had gone to a while back. Even now, months later, he could still remember how Sakura had felt against his body, the sensations that had flowed between their bodies, pulsing to the music. It seemed as if that night were only yesterday. Those moments, he recalled, had felt good and insane at the same time. He had danced with girls before when he and Naruto once snuck into a night club junior year. Those girls didn't compare to Sakura. He didn't think there would be one that would.

Minutes later, he came across the local park. Sasuke walked towards the center of it, staring up at the large tree. He sat down, looking out over the distance. The lights twinkled, looking like fireflies frozen in midair—a totally different atmosphere than the last time he sat in this very spot.

.

.

.

_Sasuke and Sakura were walking through the city, she giving him a personal tour. They had passed at least five different restaurants._

_"So why can't we eat food, again?" Sasuke asked. Sakura sighed sharply; he had already asked this twice so far that day._

_"Because it'll be like eating toxic dirt. You __could__ eat it, but it won't be any good." Soon, they came up to a public park in the middle of the area of the part of Paris that they were in. The two walked up to a large oak tree and sat down under it. Sakura lay back, putting her hands behind her head, crossing her ankles, closing her eyes. As she stretched back, her shirt came up a bit to sow some of her stomach. With the position she was in, Sasuke could make out almost every curve of her body. The skin on her stomach looked smooth, her pink hair silky._

_Sasuke didn't even realize he was trying to imagine what these two areas would feel like under his finger tips._

_Sasuke's wandering eyes moved from her legs to her torso to her hair, eyes, and then her slightly parted lips. He stared at them. __'They're probably really soft,'__ he thought to himself. Without even realizing it, he himself started to lean forward, parting his own lips only slightly, closer—_

_._

_._

_._

Sasuke blinked, forcing the images out of his mind. The last thing he needed was to be thinking such thoughts. It seemed that every time he thought about her, or acted upon his instincts, it all ended too quickly. The last time he was here, he had nearly kissed her. He would have done it, too, had he not remembered who he was and that at the time, she was still wearing the engagement ring to Deidara. And then there was the club, when their better judgment was thrown out the window. The dancing, extreme grinding, the taste of the skin on her neck, and the atmosphere itself had driven Sasuke to the point of delirium. The man couldn't deny that their actions probably would have gone further had it not been for Itachi, Naruto, and Hinata getting tired.

He also couldn't forget what he did at the airport. The first time, when he took his chances and kissed her goodbye. He knew it would feel nice. But it felt like more. When their lips touched, the ache in his chest grew, a desperate need taking over. The overwhelming disappointment that this was the first and last time. It had been so short. When they had been reunited later, and they were loading on the bikes, he could feel almost every inch of her against him.

There was no denying that Sakura had a major affect on him. The real question was just how much. For all Sasuke knew, she could do anything and it would make him want her. If she only knew what she did, there was no telling what she'd be able to get him to do. He was that weak, and he damn well knew it.

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair, sighing out loud. Then he stopped. Slowly, he breathed in through his nose, smelling the air. He coughed violently, nearly having a gag reflex. Something in the air smelled really, really bad. And Sasuke doubted that it was from the dumpsters a few blocks over. '_What the hell is that?'_ he thought. Whatever it was, it was purely _disgusting_. It almost reminded Sasuke of an experiment back in his sophomore year of high school in Honors Biology when they dissected they baby pigs. Except this was stronger, and definitely did not have chemicals in it. Remembering what Sakura mentioned earlier, Sasuke tried to listen for anything strange off in the distance.

"_How long is this gonna take?"_

Slowly, Sasuke rose to his feet, listening harder.

"_Well, _excuse_ me. You could help, you know."_

Sasuke easily determined the voices were male and female. Judging by the pitches of them, the male had to be around his age, possibly a little older. The girl however, was just that: a girl. Probably ten, maybe eleven. Sasuke turned slowly, listening for more of the conversation, trying to pin-point its location. '_I bet they're the ones to blame for the smell,_' he thought to himself. An old memory triggered his mind just then, of when he was here with Sakura. Another time, but a similar situation. Trusting his instincts, Sasuke followed the conversation, almost positive on where it would lead him.

"_There is no way you can get me to touch that thing,"_ the male stated, clearly disgusted by whatever he was seeing. Sasuke quickened his pace, doing his best to stay quiet, so as not to be detected.

"_You are such a pansy! My goodness, Tim, you freak out over the smallest things. I mean, really, it's just a body—nothing I'm sure you can't handle."_

At that point, Sasuke knew where they were, immediately remembering the path Sakura had showed him when they found the two empty graves a year ago. He remembered that Sakura had tried linking the grave robberies to the group known as Akatsuki. The man sprinted, silent even to his own ears as he picked up on more of what the two were saying. Luckily, he was able to remember the way to the cemetery.

When he got close enough, he noticed that the gates were locked—gates that were ten feet high, almost impossible to climb. Carefully, he leapt over the steel-bared gates surrounding the area. Once landing quietly on the balls of his feet, he hid behind a tree, his eyes roaming the flat land. In the light of the moon, he caught two silhouettes not too far from where he stood. From his hiding spot, Sasuke watched the two figures in the center of the cemetery, guessing they were a good quarter of a mile away. the girl stood with her hands on her hips, a pile of dirt and grass nest to her, a shovel thrown beside it. She was definitely young and very small for her size, too.

The man behind her wasn't much different. Tall, lanky, not much on him. His arms were crossed; both were very relaxed.

In front of them was a large hole. Sasuke put his hand over his nose and mouth, trying to block out the smell of rotting flesh. He could almost see the stench rising out of the ground. How were those two not repulsed by it? Even if they didn't have heightened senses like himself, they still had to be able to smell it—were they used to something like this? Sasuke deeply hoped that wasn't it. He never thought that people so young would involve themselves in something so . . . well, disgusting for lack of a better word.

"Sick," Sasuke mumbled under his breath.

The man's head shot up, turning around in an instant. "Who's there?"

* * *

**School got out yesterday. After everyone else in the freaking country. Stupid schools... **

**Anyway, I'm going to change the way I make this story: for the past few years, I've been writting everything down in a notebook, and then retyping it all into the computer. But after doing **_More To The Eye _**all on the computer, and making this story's storyline on the computer as well, I figure I'm just going to go ahead and switch over completely. It makes things easier, and I've realized that I'll have chapters posted faster this way. So, expect more :).**

**REVIEW (or else.)**


	8. Found

Walking down the stairs, Sakura found Naruto and Hinata on the couch, watching old home videos that Kiba had somehow taken and saved. Upon closer inspection, it was when Kiba had decided to throw her a surprise birthday party—at a strip club. She shook her head, throwing Kiba a nasty glare to where he stood across the room. He held up his hands, a foxy grin on his face.

"Well, they found the tapes and I—"

"Oh, shut up, you moron," she mumbled, turning off the video. They three of them eyed her, gazes questioning.

"What's up with you, pinky?" the blonde inquired. "You seem a little down." Sakura sat down on the other sofa, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Sasuke; he's a just a little touchy right now, I guess. He left just a few minutes ago." She remembered the cold look on his face, the distance in his gaze. She knew he wasn't upset with her directly, but she was sure that she said something that drastically changed his mood.

Hinata sighed. "We heard the conversation, Sakura. He's a little . . . sensitive about his brother sometimes."

"What do you mean? They get along great—"

Naruto shook his head. "That's not it. He used to be insanely jealous of Itachi when we were all younger. The teachers were horrible about it, too, always talking about him. It only got better after Itachi disappeared at the end of our junior year of high school." Noticing the look on her face, he tried to reassure her. "But don't worry! You didn't know, and he doesn't talk about it—ever. Not even with me," he said. Sakura nodded her head slightly, hardly listening. She wished she would have known about how Sasuke felt before she started talking about Itachi having Sharingan.

Great. Now she felt bad.

She sighed again as she walked out of the room, brushing her hair out of her face. She needed to do something special for him to make up for what she'd said. But what?

Sasuke stood completely still behind the tree, not daring to move in fear of being discovered. They'd heard him! But how? He was sure he had been absolutely silent.

"Excuse me?" the girl said. Sasuke could almost hear the look that she was giving the other male.

"I swore I heard something . . . I think we're being watched, Shiyani," he whispered.

"You are so paranoid, Mark," she hissed back. Sasuke listened as something—a body, he presumed—dropped onto the clean grass with a thud. After a moment or two, another sound reached his ears. It was an odd but familiar sound. There were two parts to it. The first made Sasuke have the impression that whatever it was, swished, almost metallically. The second part reminded him Sasuke of days when he was a small child and his parents had taken him and his brother to the beach. He clearly recalled when they would build sandcastles, the sound of the sand hitting the bottom of the little buckets they would use to make the castle towers . . .

With a jolt, Sasuke realized that the hole was being refilled with the dirt that had been taken out of it. The sounds had been the shovel going into the mound of loose dirt, which had then been dropped back into the hole.

"Honestly, Mark," the Shiyani woman said with a sigh. Ignoring the hushes from her partner, she continued, "You really need to loosen up on these assignments. You're always so afraid about being caught. And you're such a stickler for the rules, too!" she complained, a twang in her voice. Sasuke got the impression that she wasn't native to France—it was almost an American accent. "Did you ever wonder why we have rules and guidelines and laws?" she questioned slowly.

"To keep order among the people?" He sounded so unsure of himself all of a sudden.

"So that they can be broken. Rules test you and how willing you are to have a little fun. Life's no enjoyment if you don't break the rules. If everyone followed them, we'd all just be a bunch of puppets controlled by people who know better . . ."

Sasuke continued to listen to her never-ending rant. He wanted so badly to just bang his head—hard—against the tree. But then they would hear that, and he'd be discovered.

And that would be bad.

He was almost positive that these two were vampires, as well—or the male was, at least. Sasuke couldn't just leave knowing that something was going on and he could do something, anything to stop it. but first he had to figure out who these two were, what they were doing, and then why. Shiyani had said that there were on an assignment of some sort—so they were working for someone. Probably a higher up that had too much pride to get his hands dirty. Or a man powerful enough that couldn't afford to get caught, and just decided to have minions do the dirty work for him, making him appear clean. After that was the issue of figuring out who was calling the shots and what they wanted.

'_Why does there have to be so many damn questions?'_ Sasuke thought, frustrated. He knew that they were digging up graves for the bodies inside—_'Wait a second . . .'_ he thought slowly.

_"Sakura, we are right next to a __graveyard__," he said, stating the obvious._

_"Yeah, but the stench shouldn't be this strong. There is something odd about it." She used her vampire speed to run throughout the graveyard, Sasuke right on her heels. After a few seconds she stopped—Sasuke stumbling a bit—in front of four tombstones in the dead center of the cemetery. The graves were empty._

_"Grave-robbers?" Sasuke suggested._

_"No; look carefully at the holes of the graves—how they were dug." Sakura walked around each individual grave, taking in their features as if it were a skeleton of a dinosaur. They were all dug in such a perfect manner; the sides were smooth and unusually even—not the work of any average grave robber. Sakura pulled out a pen and paper from her jean skirt pocket and wrote done the names and dates engraved on the tombstones._

_"So do you know who did this?" Sakura shook her head, standing up and leading Sasuke back towards the life in the city._

_"No, but I have a pretty good idea on who and why_."

Sasuke didn't want to jump to conclusions just yet, but he was ready to believe that this was the doing of the dangerous group of vampires, Akatsuki. Sasuke didn't know all that much about the group; he only knew that they had been a potential threat to Orochimaru. _'Can a single group of vampires be so powerful to actually scare him?'_ he wondered. Sasuke's mind was racing, weighing the few options he had. _'At this point, I have three options. Plan A: I can try and fight those two and stop whatever they're doing. Plan B: I can wait until they're done and then follow then to wherever they're going next. And then there's plan C: leave now and tell the others everything I saw.'_

Sasuke stood there, debating on what his best bet would be. He had no idea what the strength was of those two—the girl, he was pretty sure he could take on. He wondered about the guy, though. If he was a vampire, then he was probably just as strong as Sasuke. And Sasuke had very little actual fighting experience—that was what Naruto did. Sasuke was the brains while Naruto had been the brute strength. If he went and got the others, they would win for sure.

However, there was no way he was going to look back on this moment and call himself a coward. If nothing else, Sasuke had a too much pride for that. He could follow them pretty easily. The problem with that idea, though, was the fact that he had no clue as to where they were headed for, how long it would take, how far it was, or who else might be waiting at the destination point.

And then there was his first option again. He could go over and try to fight the two of them. Cowardice was frowned upon, but bravery could very easily be turned into stupidity—

"_Damnit! I'm never this indecisive!'_ he mentally screamed.

After a moment's hesitation, Sasuke made his decision. Akatsuki was powerful enough to make even a Sannin Vampire become extremely cautious. Not only was it two against one, but Sasuke had no clue if these guys simply working for Akatsuki, or actual members or the organization. And he definitely wasn't going to stick around and find out the hard way. _'I've got to do this as carefully as possible._'

Slowly, he pushed himself off of the tree, his quick mind already thinking about the way the streets were laid out so he could get to Sakura's mansion faster without being noticed by the two not very far from him. Maybe if he went fast enough without making any noise, he could get the others here before Mark and Shiyani left. Sasuke took a cautious step forward, still listening intently on the conversation of the other two in the area. As he watched, the girl's head slowly turned and looked—

At him!

She smiled, saying, "You won't get away so easily, kid."

* * *

**Oh! He's been discovered. The chapters will be getting longer. And hopefully better. I know where I want to go with this Trilogy, it's just a matter on how to get there. Any suggestions?**

**BTW.**

**HARRY POTTER. I'M GOING OPENING NIGHT!**

**HA!**


	9. The Shocking Discovery

_'They know!'_ Sasuke did what he should have done from the very beginning.

He bolted his ass out of there.

"Get him!" the girl screamed.

As Sasuke sprinted, he could hear the male—Mark—following, his footfalls having short intervals and becoming louder. _'He's fast—really fast!'_ From slight fear of the other vampire catching him, a burst of adrenaline shot through Sasuke's body, forcing him to go faster than what even he thought was possible. Within a matter of seconds, they were halfway across the city; zipping through alleys, jumping over parked cars, scaling a building by the old metal fire escape to get out of a dead end. But to Sasuke, each second seemed like it was going frame by frame, instead of a big blur of colors and lights like it definitely should have been. Everything was so incredibly _clear_ . . .

But even with the sudden extra-awareness that Sasuke now possessed, he couldn't work it to his advantage. The speed was so foreign to him; his mind couldn't keep up with any of it. Every decision, every move and turn he made, was split-second, simply because there was no time to think things through to find a better route. There was too much going on inside his head for him to even focus on anything besides running. And that was just instinctual for him. So many thoughts were swimming inside his head, which made it difficult to form a single coherent thought. And because of that disadvantage, he wasn't able to formulate any kinds of plan or strategy to get rid of Mark and get himself to safety. And although there was no proof, Sasuke just had a gut feeling that she absolutely could not let that guy get his hands on him, no matter what.

'_If I keep this up, I'm screwed!' _he thought. In the back of his mind, Sasuke simply knew that this would all come down to him fighting against Mark. _'Can I fight him?' _he wondered vaguely. During his time with Orochimaru, he didn't do much of any new practices. He knew the stuff that Sakura had taught him long ago, though. Sasuke remembered her telling him that he was getting better at fighting. Orochimaru had said that he could kill efficiently.

'_But do I want to kill him?'_ he wondered again. Sasuke knew that the answer to that question was both a yes and a no. Did he want to eliminate someone whose mission was to steal bodies from a cemetery? Yes; it was sick and wrong. But also, did he want to be responsible for ending the existence of another vampire?

No; mentally, he wasn't sure if he could handle it. Sasuke wasn't sure if he could live for hundred, maybe thousands of years, with the knowledge that he was the reason that a person no longer existed, that a person's death—however evil—was on his shoulders alone.

But of course, whether it be fighting or not, at this point Sasuke really didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

Making a sharp turn, Sasuke shot through the park and towards the long strip of small abandoned stores that lined the southeastern end of the city where Sasuke had come in through earlier.

"You're dead!"

Before he even realized it, there was a harsh shove in the center of his back that knocked Sasuke forward, causing him to fly through the air in front of him. He brought his arms out in time to propel himself forward in a roll after coming to the ground. From the momentum of the somersault, he kicked with his legs to perform a jump-twist in the air so that he was facing this Mark character head-on. Coming down, Sasuke skidded backwards while keeping a close eye on his opponent. Taking the moment, Sasuke was able to get a better look at the man now that he was seeing him up close. Mark was definitely syred at an age a few years older than Sasuke—the latest, Sasuke would guess, in his mid-twenties. He was taller than Sasuke, with a build that spoke volumes of his physical abilities.

'_I'm screwed.'_

Without preamble, Mark shot towards Sasuke at a speed that left the young vampire shaken. Jumping out of the way at the last moment, Sasuke cocked his arm back to land a hit to the jaw when Mark vanished, reappearing behind him. Sasuke was jerked backwards by the cuff of his shirt; he kept his eyes on his enemy, not wanting to be caught off guard. Mark then pulled out an object from the inside of his leather jacket. Before Sasuke could react, the object in question was being swiped at him; he jumped back, bending to avoid it, still trying to figure out what it was. When the tip of it ran across his chest, Sasuke's mind immediately told him that it was a knife of some sort. Once he knew that weapons were involved, he shot towards the arm holding the knife, attempting to knock it out of Mark's hand. However, seeing this already, the older man only side-stepped him, bringing the tip of the blade into Sasuke's arm. Blood seeped out of the second, deeper wound.

The fight continued, Sasuke trying to block the attacks, and Mark simply avoiding him and stabbing him. Within five minutes, Sasuke could feel his shirt sticking to him in different places due to the blood. After the cuts on his arm and chest, Sasuke was also aware of a deep stab wound on his lower back and center of his stomach. He wasn't too concerned, knowing that they would heal quickly; the feel of the blood was only irritating and hindered her slightly. They both stood across from each other, waiting for the other to move. Sasuke reached out with his mind, trying to figure out what was going on in the other vampire's head. _'Come on, what's your next move?'_

After another few seconds, Sasuke realized something: he couldn't read anything that was going on in his head. The man before him then straightened, his face suddenly blank. His eyes stared straight ahead with a glassy look about them. _'He looks . . . fake—'_

Sasuke suddenly started to slowly back away from the _person_ in front of him, not believing what he was seeing. _'No way . . .'_

Mark then started to shake and then he fell forward, not moving. Being quick, Sasuke went forwards and ripped the head off the body—he remembered that much about how to kill a vampire. Sasuke stood there for a moment before racing back to Sakura's, despite the pain from the wounds.

'_She has to know about this!'_

Even with a limp and the pain shooting through his body, Sasuke managed to make it back to Sakura's property without collapsing in a bruised and bloody heap. It took a while, but he managed. As he made his way to the porch that wound about the front of the mansion, Sasuke's vision started to blur in and out of focus. He vaguely wondered what it'd be like to not be able to pass into unconsciousness. But was he supposed to be feeling dizzy like this? Before Sasuke even knew what was happening, he had a strange, turning feeling in the pit of his stomach. The world seemed to be shifting and there was wind rushing through his hair. He realized that it wasn't the world moving, he was falling.

The sensation of the action seemed strange to Sasuke. He had always heard that when dazed, falling seemed to take almost forever. Oh, how incredibly and undeniably wrong all of those people were. Sasuke's mind was unfocused and fuzzy. So when he noticed that one second he was standing and the next his face was inches from the ground, he began to panic. Sasuke didn't know exactly why, but he this—dizzy, unfocused, falling—as a very bad sign. Turning his head to the side, Sasuke spat out the dirt from his mouth. The pain from the wounds on his chest and stomach increased as his bloody shirt clung to him more than he would have preferred. Raising his arms, Sasuke attempted to push himself back to his feet, which only resulted in another face-plant into the grass. He settled for just staring out across the lawn, he left cheek pressed into the ground. _'What's happening to me?'_ he wondered, his mind sluggish. By this point Sasuke found it near impossible to even raise his head off the ground. After a minute he simply stopped trying.

A strange heat had wormed its way into Sasuke and was racing through his veins. Contrasting to the natural inn-cold of a vampire, the hot feeling left a burning sensation wherever it touched; in a matter of seconds the sensation had spread throughout Sasuke's entire body. He tried bringing in the cool night air into his lungs in an attempt to stop the internal fire from burning him, but it only increased the pain; it was getting so much worse.

Again, the dizziness came as his vision shifted and blurred even more. The edges around what he could see started to go dark and fuzzy, tunneling in. at the tree line so far in the distance, Sasuke thought he saw something. A dark shadow that seemed to grow by each passing second. As it came closer, Sasuke had to wonder if he was actually hallucinating. The . . . thing . . . was dark, but not opaque; he could see through it to the land and forest behind it. but when Sasuke did look through the shadowy mass, a sudden and rising terror took over within. Through the large mysterious shadow, everything was somehow darker. He could see the shapes and outlines of people; they seemed to limp in their walking. Their skin was grey and translucent; they looked defeated, almost dead.

As he continued gazing at the strangeness before him, within the shadow, Sasuke suddenly saw a face he had prayed to never have to see again in his life. The young vampire's body began to shake and then violently convulse as a scream worked its way through his trembling lips.

_Dead._

The shadow covered itself over Sasuke's body, and his world went black.

* * *

Sakura, Hinata, and Naruto froze. Itachi and Tiashi were by their sides the next instant. "Who screamed?" Tiashi demanded, gaze shooting around the room. Sakura immediately went into the front room and pulled back the thick curtains, gazing out into the front lawn. What she saw had her rushing out the double front doors, the others following. The sight they were greeted with made their hearts freeze.

Sasuke's body lay on the grass, drenched in a growing pool of his own blood.

Face down, his body convulsed as if being shaken be a large, powerful force. Itachi rushed to his little brother's side. He and Sakura quickly turned Sasuke over so he was lying on his back.

Sakura's heart nearly dropped when Sasuke's body froze, completely still.

* * *

**So, i realize in the manga Sasuke would never scream. But, see, this is not the manga, so I don't give a damn.**

**Anyway, I'm doing multiple projects at the moment to keep my mind going.**

**Including a Harry Potter story that may be posted soon. It will be amazing, let me tell you. Any questions? Send a PM**

**And since I have not officially started working yet (employer is stupid as fuck) my payment from you all shall be reviews. :)**

**~fdty**


	10. The Ultimate Death

_ Ultimate Death_

* * *

The moment Sakura and Itachi had gotten Sasuke on his back, the worst then happened: Sasuke stopped shaking. His sudden stillness could mean one of two things: one, whatever was happening to Sasuke was over, and he was fine and would be okay.

Or he was dead.

Itachi prayed to any god that it was the later.

"Sasuke?" he called out quietly, almost hesitant. His brother's eyes remained closed, never flickering. Itachi called out to him again, taking Sasuke's hand in his own, squeezing it tightly. His head bent down and he felt himself begin to shake. Sakura watched warily, feeling helpless, as Tiashi stepped forward and wrapped her arms securely around Itachi. Sakura's gaze shifted slightly to the side; Hinata was holding Naruto in a comforting embrace, trying to calm the blonde's oncoming hysterics that Sakura knew would quickly come. To her other side, Kiba had his head bowed in respect—he didn't weep, for he never knew Sasuke on a personal level.

Suki simply looked rather confused. Sakura eyed her, her gaze questioning. After a moment's hesitation, Suki lifted her right arm up. With her left index finger, she traced around her right wrist slowly, her gaze now having a questioning look to it. Furrowing her brow, Sakura looked down at Sasuke's left wrist, the one next to her knee. At a first glance, Sakura assumed it just to be an inky-colored tattoo in the intricate design of a bracelet, having been popular only a year prior. But upon closer inspection, Sakura's eyes widened immensely. Of course, it wasn't just some silly artwork needled into his pale skin. It was the inscription that appeared when the blood interacted with a deadly poison. The poison of a very particular man that Sakura was currently cursing to the bottomless pits of hell.

Sakura's head shot up, eyes going straight to her left. "Kiba!"

Said man's head shot up quickly, startled by the demanding tone in his friend's voice. "Yeah?"

"Basement, third cabinet—get me the UDI antidote!" she ordered, her words rushed. The brunet man took one look at the wrist Sakura was holding; his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets, he sprinted back inside the house for what Sakura ordered, immediately understanding the situation. Sakura turned to the elder brother, who was oblivious to what was taking place around him. "Itachi, I need you to move back," she said firmly. The man looked up at her in slight confusion.

"What?"

Apparently, though, Tiashi also recognized the intricate and strange markings wrapped around Sasuke's wrist, for she was moving between Itachi and Sasuke's immobile form. "Babe, you need to move if we're going to save him," she said, her voice soft but pleading.

"Save him?"

Sakura turned and gazed at Itachi, trying not to let too much hope seep into her voice; she could be totally wrong about this, or even too late, if Kiba didn't hurry. "Yes. He isn't dead—but he could be if we don't do something _now_," she said calmly; she was everything but. Itachi was quiet for a moment as everything settled into his head. Once it did, and he was able to make sense of it all, he quickly shuffled back, giving the others enough space to do what they needed to do, but still close enough to keep an eye on his only family left.

By the time Itachi was standing besides Naruto and Hinata, Tiashi and Suki on his other side, Kiba came racing out of the house, nearly tripping down the steps to give Sakura the concoction she had demanded for. Hinata voiced everyone else's thoughts. "Sakura, what is that stuff?"

The substance was indeed strange-looking. It was held in a glass cylindrical-like container that was rounded on one end, capped on the other. Its color was somewhere between purple and green, translucent, though almost opaque. When Sakura took off the cap on the one end, there was a needle coming out of the container, similar to what was used for shots.

"It's an antidote for UDI poisoning," Tiashi answered; Sakura was too busy injecting the substance into the crook of Sasuke's arm, not taking too long to find a good vein.

"What's UDI stand for?" Naruto asked, staring strangely at everything that was happening. Tiashi nearly sighed.

"Ultimate Death Illusionment," she answered stiffly. "The poison has little to no affect on people—it's mainly used on vampires. For us . . . it makes a vampire believe that they're truly dying."

"The ultimate death," Sakura concluded. She had finished injecting the liquid; the small container was empty. It has no scientific name because publically, it doesn't exist—less than a hundred people world-wide know about it—more than half of them are the ones to use it." It was quiet for all of two seconds before another question was thrown into the air.

"What's he seeing right now?" Suki asked slowly, almost afraid of the answer.

Sakura and Tiashi remained silent, neither of them having any idea of an answer.

* * *

Sasuke watched hopelessly as the disfigured shadow moved closer. Moans and distant screams of pain and anger echoed all around him, eating away at his mind and soul, the sounds terrorizing him to his core. His body was frozen still, no matter how hard he struggled to move, his brain wouldn't make the right connection. The air turned cold and almost stagnant, as if he were in a small enclosed area. Sasuke stared up at the smiling figure of his worst childhood fear and recurring nightmare. The man kneeled down and Sasuke could smell the charred skin on his arms and face.

"You didn't think I'd forgotten about you, did you?" he whispered hoarsely as he leaned down on crouched knees, smiling cruelly at the Uchiha vampire. The man's face got close to Sasuke's; he could almost see the small patches where there was no skin at all.

Sasuke, still having his pride and courage, glared up at the man, trying his best to keep his voice from shaking. "You're not real—you're dead," he growled. The man before him grinned, teeth missing and blood still around the ones that remained.

"So are you, boy!" he yelled, laughing. Sasuke mentally cringed at the sound of his mad cackling, painful memories arising from the sound.

All of a sudden, Sasuke was taken back to that night, so many years ago.

The building was freezing—it was the middle of winter, in the dead of the night, and all he was wearing was a T-shirt and jeans. He hadn't been thinking when he ran out of the house—assumed he'd be back later anyway, wouldn't even be out too long. He didn't even consider getting kidnapped off the streets. He never imagined it would happen to him.

The ropes were too tight, he thought, as they scratched against his wrists, which were tied behind his back. The man that had knocked him out hadn't been gentle with binding them.

He had no idea where he was—wherever it was, it was large, and empty, with large crates everywhere. The ceiling was so high that he couldn't even see it in the darkness consuming him and the others. The floor that Sasuke was laying on was dirty and hard, small stoned digging into his cheek as he lay immobile. There weren't many others, but he knew just by looking at them that at nine years old, he was the very youngest. There were police outside, looking for a way it, looking for all of them, to get them out of there.

From his left, he could hear a girl crying, just as scared as he was. When a door slammed, they all jumped, trying not to stare at the man walking towards them all. One of the teens tried getting up, but was kicked fiercely in the stomach, making the older boy grunt out and then remain still.

Another man ran into the room. "The cops got the buildin' s'rounded. What d'you want us to do, man?" he said quickly, fiddling with the gun tucked into the waistband of his pants—all of the accomplices had one, Sasuke could tell.

"Do what you need to, I don't give a damn—here," said the one that kidnapped Sasuke, grabbing the crying girl and shoving her towards the other guy, who caught her roughly on the arm. "Show her to them and threaten to kill her if they come any closer."

"And if they come closer?"

"Shoot her." His tone implied that the other guy was stupid for even asking such a question. As he was about to walk back out, the man took one glance at Sasuke, recognized him as the one he'd taken, and gave him a swift kick to the side.

Tears ran down the boy's cheeks, easily reminded of the other wounds that decorated his body. There was the cold, obviously, from being unprotected from it for nearly three hours. The bruises to his sides were painful; the cuts on his face just the same. The worst, though, were the welts that were forming on his back from the whip the guy had used to finally get Sasuke to corporate with him once the boy had woken up.

Sasuke didn't think he would ever experience any moment in his life as painful and horrifying as his current situation. He just wanted to go _home_, where his big brother was, probably unaware that his baby brother was gone, stuck with possible murderers, still thinking Sasuke hated him. But Sasuke didn't—he so badly wanted to go and apologize to Itachi for the horrible things he'd said to him a few days prior. He was hurt and angry, and he never meant to say those things, and he just wanted his brother there more than anything else.

Suddenly the shouts from outside became louder, and he was being hoisted up by the man who'd taken hi, kicked him, scared him for life. Sasuke was about to start screaming when he felt something hard and cold pressed up against his temple. Before him, lights streamed into the room the cops burst in, hopefully having saved the girl from before, though Sasuke couldn't be sure. They froze again, being cautious about something—

"One move and I shoot the kid. I promise you, I ain't lyin'," he seethed, holding Sasuke tighter around the neck.

_He's got a gun oh my god he's got a gun I'm going to die Itachi please help me—_

The only thing Sasuke would remember later was that he was scared and desperate, and the matches were just _right there_. The man holding him was too focused on the cops and what they were doing to even noticed the slight movement Sasuke was making, using the toe of his shoed to pull the matches closer—

A gun was fired, and Sasuke could feel blood splattering across his face, though it wasn't his own—and he could breath, there was nothing pressed to his head. He didn't feel the skin tearing on his wrists as he yanked them from the rope, fingers going for the matches at his feet. The guy behind him grabbed his ankle, bringing him down onto the ground. But the flame was lit, and Sasuke tossed it back as quickly as he could, not checking to make sure it hit the man before kicking the hand off of his foot and racing towards the police officer's arms. More shots were fired, this time hitting the people around Sasuke.

He turned to look one last time to see a figure rolling around on the floor, flames encasing him, but through the screams he heard—

"_This isn't over!"_

–before the man in front of him died in the flames.

"And it still isn't," he said now, watching the terror seep into Sasuke's eyes. He started reaching for him, but something changed. The shadowy figures started to slowly fade; the dark figure around him disappeared. The man above Sasuke was now being pulled back. His screams of rage and vengeance echoed in Sasuke's ears long after they were gone.

He was left in complete darkness.

He started to recognize the complete and utter strangeness about how numb he was. The last time Sasuke remembered feeling like this was the exact moment before passing out as Orochimaru and turned him into a vampire. He still wasn't sure as to why he had felt it then or why he was feeling it now. But it was the darkness in his own mind that was starting to become unbearable. Then again, Sasuke couldn't necessarily say it was dark; it was more along the lines of a spacious nothing.

There was no sense of direction and now way of finding it. If one were to be in a room with no light, they would still have a general sense of up and down. Here, Sasuke quickly concluded, there was no such luxury. He was completely alone. After a while he found himself questioning how long he had been in this state, for he eventually lost a sense of time, too. Even when he was at Orochimaru's base, or alone while captive years ago, never once had Sasuke felt as hopelessly alone as he did then.

There was nothing to see, nothing to hear, nothing to feel. What was going to do? He would never speak with Naruto or Itachi again, or even Sakura.

_Sakura_ . . .

Who was going to relay the message to her? Who else would possibly know of the potential danger that she and everyone else was in? And he couldn't just leave this between them the way they were. He had hurt her, and he had to make up for it still. Sasuke felt like kicking himself for getting into the situation he was in. He had thought that, since he was an immortal creature now, that he had all the time in the world, that he was invincible. He had thought that he would be able to spend years with his best friend, rebuild a relationship with Itachi and Sakura. And now, he felt like he could never do any of the things he'd planned.

He had especially wanted to fix things with Sakura. He couldn't explain why, but her trust mean something to him, more than it did with most other people he'd ever met. Maybe it was because she had helped him build this new life, had been there, was a true and honest from the very moment he'd met her just over a year ago. It seemed only right that he returned everything she'd ever done for him, make sure she knew that he appreciated all of it, every single moment.

Now, that dream seemed distant. He couldn't figure out any way of getting himself out of this numb and nothing he was trapped in.

An indiscernible time later, something had changed that alerted Sasuke's senses.

A voice.

"_Sasuke? Sasuke, wake up . . ."_

That voice. Sasuke _knew_ that voice . . .

Slowly, slowly, he started to gain feeling back in his body. Oddly, he felt no pain like he had before. Instead, Sasuke only felt a dull ache. There was a tight pressure on one of his hands, a soothing warmth on his cheek.

"_Sasuke, open your eyes."_

And slowly, with all of his effort, he did.

At first, everything was black. But little by little, more and more colors started to form in front of his eyes. He mostly saw pink and green. Sasuke focused on those two colors while the others became more defined. The contrast between the night sky and Sakura's skin was almost too unreal; Sasuke wondered if he was really waking up, or if all of it was in his mind.

Above him, Sakura smiled, relief hidden in her eyes.

"Hey," she whispered. Sasuke looked around as much as he could without moving his head. The pressure on his hand was because of Itachi; he had a very firm grip on it. Behind his brother was Tiashi; her head was on the older man's shoulder, arms around him, a small smile on her face. Behind Sakura were Naruto and Hinata—both bursting with happy relief—and then Kiba and Suki. "How are you?"

Sasuke brought his eyes back to Sakura. Her fingers were still grazing his cheek. He focused on her soft skin as he stared at her. Her long pink hair was a tangled mess, hastily thrown over one shoulder, making it frame her face. Her eyes reflected the light from the moon, causing them to appear a silvery-green.

"I'm fine," he croaked out as he sat up, but was nearly tackled back down from Naruto and Itachi's man-hugs. They were pulled off a second later.

"Take it easy, the both of you!" Tiashi scolded. Naruto gave her a sheepish grin; Itachi rolled his eyes, but complied anyway.

'_Probably trying to appear 'cool' after giving a full-grown man a hug,_' Sasuke thought, mentally chuckling. He attempted to sit up again, this time feeling a small gentle hand on his back to assist him. Said hand then slowly slid over to rest on his shoulder, leaving a tingly sensation in its trail. Sasuke looked over to see Sakura giving him a kind smil.e

"Let's get you inside."

* * *

**Yes. Another chapter. Yay.**

**I am tired. Can you tell? I'll update again soon-like, before the end of the month. Srsly.**


	11. Deprived

As Sasuke stood his vision blurred momentarily, small black dots swarming before him before quickly going back to normal. He blinked a few times, fighting off the strange feeling that had suddenly come over him. It was a mix of an immense physical exhaustion combined with a dull ache at the back of his head. His brother gave him a questioning look, as if asking if he was alright. Sasuke returned the look with a slight nod; he knew Itachi would understand.

"Come on," Sakura urged, looking around the area warily. "Let's all get inside and we'll talk."

Everyone nodded and made their way back into the house. Sakura led the group into the kitchen; everyone sat around somewhere they could find room: either on the window seat, at the tiny table, or on a counter top. Sakura went to her cupboard and started pulling out fancy-looking glasses with engravings around the rims.

"Kiba, go grab something from the cellar. Anything you want, but make sure it's strong," she requested. As Kiba left the room Sakura began pulling packs of blood from the refrigerator, filling half a glass with the crimson substance. When Kiba came up he carried two bottles of 75 year old wine, using that to continue filling the glasses, shaking each one a bit to mix the contents. Tiashi gave a sigh of relief. She quickly took one of the glasses.

"Sakura, have I ever told you that I love you?" she asked rhetorically while mixing the glass once more before taking a sip. She closed her eyes contentedly, loving the taste of the concoction. She crossed her legs while perched on the counter top. "I have to tell you, Sakura: that job a few years back definitely paid off,"

Sakura answered everyone else's unasked question. "Back when Kiba and I were still living in America about seven years ago, I worked as a bartender at a local vampire club," she said lightly, trying for nonchalant. Naruto sputtered a laugh, nearly spilling his drink. Sakura glared. "Hey, shut up!" she shouted, going on the defensive. "I was a bit wilder back then!"

This time is was Kiba's turn to snort. "A bit? You and Deidara threw some kind of wild party almost every week—vampires all over the country went to you guys for a good time!" he exclaimed with a nostalgic laugh. Sakura shook her head, a small smile on her face.

"Yeah. We were the night life." Her eyes narrowed. "They he joined Akatsuki. This brings us back to you, Sasuke."

Said man gazed at Sakura over the rim of his wine glass; he'd been hoping she kept talking about her ex-fiancé, considering he knew absolutely nothing about the man. She never spoke of him. But now he had seen the look that passed over her eyes when Deidara's name came up in the conversation. It was in that moment that he started to doubt she was completely and honestly over this other man. But he really didn't want to dwell on that topic at the moment.

"What happened? You suddenly disappear from the house, and hours later you show up appearing to be dead!" she seethed, anger seeping into her tone. "Seriously, what the hell?"

Sasuke chose not to answer right away. Thanks to his new "gift", he knew that the real reason behind the woman's sudden burst of anger was because of her worry and fear. Her worry if he was really okay now and the after-shock of fear that he was dead.

"I mean, you can't just run off like that without a word—at least, leave a note or something! And—"

"Sakura."

She watched as Sasuke stood slowly from his chair to stand in front of her. He placed his hands on either side of her face, his thumbs slowly ghosting back and forth over her cheeks. He looked her straight in the eye.

"I'm fine now. I'm okay' I'm not going to die." He watched as her face softened before she nodded. Sakura leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck. As Sasuke's arms went around her waist, he felt her lips move just under his ear.

"You really had me worried back there; the thought of you dead isn't pleasant," she whispered, her voice too soft for the others to hear. The Uchiha didn't say anything in response; his arms tightened around Sakura slightly, his chin resting upon the crown of her head.

"Hey Sakura, can I have a hug, too?"

"No, Kiba."

"Why?"

She chuckled. "Because you smell like ass," Sakura mumbled into Sasuke's shoulder. A light rumble emitted from his chest as he stepped away from Sakura. Tiashi gave him a questioning look at he took another sip from his own glass.

"So, what happened, exactly?" she asked, her head tilting to the side in curiosity. Sasuke ran a hand through his hair as he sat back down and leaned back in his seat.

"I'd gone for a run and ended up in the city," he started, skipping reasons and details. "As I was walking around, I caught wind of something foul. I overheard a conversation and was led to the cemetery. There were two vampires digging up graves."

"Akatsuki," Itachi mumbled.

"That was my first thought. Then they spotted me and I got into a match against the guy. I kept trying to read his thoughts, but he didn't have any—at all. Then he just . . . fell and didn't move. I beheaded him and left," he finished bluntly. Sakura sighed, muttering under her breath. Hinata asked her to repeat it louder.

"Sasori. He was Deidara's partner in Akatsuki. I remember him pretty well; it's a good thing I know his old tricks, or else you'd really be dead, Sasuke. That man you fought? He was basically a human puppet; it's just a body that is controlled by an outside source. It must have used that poison on you that had affected you when we all found you outside," she explained.

"Wait a second!" Naruto interrupted. "Why was this guy having his puppet-people dug up graves in the first place? Why not do it himself?"

The question lingered in the air, everyone putting some thought into it. Sakura shook her head slowly. "I'm not sure. I doubt he's trying to build up an army; he has enough puppets as it is." When she noticed the suspicious and questioning stares from Sasuke and Naruto, she explained further. "Sasori created this puppet technique way back in the early 1900's, meaning he's had over a hundred years to make as many bodies as he pleases. The last time I saw him had a couple thousand men and about three-hundred women. I find it hard to believe he would need more."

"True, but have you forgotten something Sakura?" Tiashi questioned, giving the pinkette an intent look. When she received no answer, she continued. "The majority of his puppets back then were human, which means that they could die like one just as easily. Then take into account that they were all sent off to fight in World War II, and that leaves him with only a couple hundred or so by 1950."

"But then he has another sixty years to build it up again! It doesn't take him too long, why would he be continuing now?" she threw back.

Itachi leaned forward. "Sakura, the Akatsuki might be forming an army to start an all-out war among all vampires; I think we should assume the worst so that we may be prepared if worst-case-scenario does happen. Wouldn't you agree?"

A pregnant silence filled the room. Sakura's body seemed to slump slightly against the counter, appearing to have lost whatever fight was within the woman. The other occupants in the room noticed her eyes glaze over, focusing on something none of them could see. "It just doesn't seem to add up, doesn't make any sense."

"Then let me sum it up for you," Kiba declared, rising from the table to put his empty glass in the sink. "Whatever you knew or thought you knew about Deidara and Sasori, it was all a lie. Deidara was using us the entire time as an easy gateway to the Elders. He had his goals, and it didn't matter if others were hurt because of it. Sasori is the same way," he said. Seeing her still form, Kiba took Sakura by the shoulders. "You need to let go of the idea that he was a good man, because he isn't; he never was, I don't think." Kiba looked as if he was going to say more, but instead he released a sigh and exited the room, leaving behind a sudden tension in the air.

Throughout Kiba's entire speech, Sasuke had watched as Sakura's ever-present spirit degenerated from her body. Now, she suddenly was small, her shoulders hunched in, as if to surround herself. Sasuke's psychology-observing skills kicked in, and he was then analyzing her. With her body looking like it wanted to fold in on itself, he guessed that she was attempting to buffer herself, so as not to emotionally fall apart. Her eyes refused to stay on one object; perhaps she was looking for something to break the cold tension in the room, something to distract herself. Her brow was furrowed; she was hurting, confused, and looking for answers she couldn't find on her own, he knew.

"Because there are so few options, Sakura, we have to consider each one," Itachi stated. Sasuke was surprised by how calm and slow Itachi's ton was; he remembered then that his brother knew almost as much in deciphering a person's actions as he did. After a moment of silence Sakura turned, slowly extracting herself from the room, mumbling words along the lines of needing fresh air. The remaining five watched as their vampire friend stalked out of the room, hearing the back door open and close seconds later. And it was after a moment of hesitation that Sasuke followed after her.

Five minutes later Sasuke found Sakura half way up a tree in the middle of the dense forest. Carefully he pulled himself onto the lowest branch and started his way up; he grimaced, still feeling an ace in his body from the poison. When Sasuke reached the branch she was on, he straddled it and leaned back against the thick trunk, as she was already sitting a few feet from. Wearily, she side-glanced him, waiting for him to talk. Contemplating, Sasuke peed out in the direction Sakura faced; it was a lovely view of the sky untouched by the lights of civilization, bright stars scattered across an endless background of the deepest black. It was almost surreal, something one could barely imagine or properly create with pastels or oils. Looking up, Sasuke could feel the distance between himself and the closest star, making him feel incredibly insignificant and weak, despite his immense strength and immortality. He found the oncoming feeling of vast loneliness ironic and strange as he was sitting so close to a person that was becoming increasingly important in his life.

The silence between them was tender and calm, so much that it was almost palpable to both of them. A few a few minutes, Sakura sighed lightly through her nose.

"I know that I should consider Deidara a suspect; he's probably planning something this very moment but I wish I was wrong."

"Because you love him," Sasuke said, looking for her reasoning.

"No, that isn't it. I did love him, Sasuke. I loved a man more than myself, more than any girl should. He was a good man, you know," she said, catching the look on his face. She looked down at her hands in her lap. "He had goals of helping people, making the vampire race better—safer. He was a very good man. I only wish I knew when he changed and why. I've been so confused about it. One day, we're happy, and the next I find a letter saying he was gone, and that he'd be back soon."

"You didn't find this odd?" Sasuke questioned, never hearing the story of how the really separated.

"He traveled a lot to preach about his ideas and plans for the future. I often went with him. Sometimes I didn't because it was such last minutes. I waited for years for him to come back." She smiled lightly. "When you become as old as I, you will come to realize that time really doesn't exist. Life becomes one long day with moments of darkness."

Sasuke leaned forward and took her hand in his own, holding it tightly. "We're going to track him down, Sakura, along with the rest of Akatsuki. And when we find him, he'll have no choice but to answer to you. I'll even hold the bastard down for you."

The corners of Sakura's mouth tilted up slightly. She scooted over to him, leaning into his chest and his arms instinctively wrapped around her. Sasuke knew, without even thinking about it, that she was seeking a sense of comfort and security that she'd been deprived of for far too long.

* * *

**This story is so hard to write. I don't want to submit a bad chapter because you all deserve better. I've rewritten things so much it's crazy. I just want it to be great. **

**Yes, it's late. But is it good? (even though it isn't very long...)**


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